2. Read and Prepare
- Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

If you’re on your game, everything’s going well for you. You’re making the right decisions, opportunities are coming your way, and you just feel good. If you’re on your game while playing a sport, you’re winning or maybe even setting world records!

But if you’re off your game, things aren’t going so well. You might not feel that great, or you could be making a lot of mistakes. It’s possible that you might be saying the wrong things, or hurting someone’s feelings without trying. You might be forgetting important tasks or events. If you’re off your game while playing sports, you’re definitely not winning.

Who’s been off her game lately? Read more to find out in this English lesson about not feeling one’s best.

3. Watch
- Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read
- Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Jeff: Double ew. You know, my sister, from what I remember, she was really forgetful when she was pregnant. Have you had that happening to you?

Amanda: Seriously?

Jeff: I think it’s common.

Amanda: Yeah, my memory is being erased as we speak. I read or hear something, and ten minutes later, it’s gone.

Jeff: Yeah, I mean, I can see how you’d be feeling off your game. You know what? None of our clients have noticed. And if they have, everybody knows that being pregnant wreaks havoc on your mental state. So don’t worry about it.

Amanda: You’re sure you’re not just saying that to make me feel better?

Jeff: I’m sure. Now if there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.

Amanda: Well, since you’re offering, I was wondering if you would mind making a run for some more ice cream and olives.

Quizzes

Lesson MP3

討論

Amanda is exhausted. She’s pregnant, and it’s making her so tired. Her computer just stopped working after she spent hours on a project. She can’t remember anything, and all she wants is to go to sleep under her desk!

Jeff understands a little about what Amanda is going through. His sister had the same experience when she was pregnant, and she also had weird cravings. Jeff tells Amanda to take that nap. He says that no one is going to think she’s unprofessional for resting. He offers to go out and get ice cream and olives for her, even though he thinks it’s gross.

Do you know how Amanda is feeling? Is it OK for her to relax at work, or should she work just as hard as before?

意見

“Game playing” seems to be a simple-complex part of life—we all play little head games with ourselves and with others—the worst ones being the ones we play with ourselves, and anytime we are playing games, we are subject to being “off our games” at times—if not most of the time.

Why Amanda isn´t taking maternity leave : her own words… cant`t stay focus, she is so stressed out on account of her pregnancy. How bizarre are pregnancy cravings ,ice-cream and olives !! i have read that pregnant women crave for pickles and ice-cream , so we should now add olives to the list. jejejejej…..

As being pregnant certainly I do not know. But for fedding up of special situation, yes. I completely recognize her feeling bcz I’ve been off my games lots times. One of extremely bad events happened to me right yesterday. Unfortunately I realized that I missed my admission letter from my destination college for my Ph.D course out of my country since my supervise had forgot to fulfill the recommendation letter. Yuck.

Anyway, in my view work is only one part of our life not whole of it. Of course with this condition she needs to take it easy, curl up and also doze off if she gets exhausted.

As the friends below said, we’re guys, and we’ll never know what it’s like to be pregnant. However, to the best of my knowledge, it’s completely normal for Amanda to be like this.

Sometimes, when I’m talking to my mom, she tells me stories about the time when she had me ’’in the oven’’, and it sounds kinda funny. Pregnant women usually eat things that they’d never eat, and/or mix them up to get an exotic flavor. Amanda, for instance, chose ice cream with olives. Yuck!

It’s good to fufill their wishes when they’re like this. After all, if they themselves are asking for something special, it’s because of the baby. I’m only 19, and I don’t intend to have kids for the meantime (I don’t even have a girlfriend), but I can already see myself buying the whole grocery store for my wife! haha

I dont know how Amanda is feeling coz Im not female and I dont even have friends or relatives who are pregnant. But it seems like pregnant women have to deal with lots of things that men never experience.

People need to help pregnant women with many things like job, housework etc as much as possible. Its both for women and her babies.

maybe I can know how does Amanda feel because I went through her situation someday ,but for sure I wasn’t carrying a baby on my belly ,it was a problem on my head that made me off my game .

I was working at that time at a law library .I was so professional until a day when my father went to the jail ,because his mom wanted to (the Yemeni law gives the mothers the opportunity to prison her own son whatever his age was ) so that made me off my game .I couldn’t focus on my job .sometimes I was given the customer the wrong book .so I had to quit my job .

yes I really think that she have to take rest for the last 3 months on her pregnancy at home